Page 83 of Maid in America

Feeling around in the pockets of his blue zippered hoodie, Barrett produced a match, lit it, and flicked it in the pit at the gasoline-soaked wood. Awhooshof fire rose in front of his face, forcing him to take a step back.

He recalled dozens of parties in his youth on this lake. Every nook and cranny had a memory. He’d had sex with hishigh school girlfriend behind a nearby tree where they’d carved their initials, only to scratch them out a week later. There were familiar bushes he’d thrown up behind and patches of dirt where he’d stared for hours, drunkenly trying to find all the constellations. The memories felt like wearing a favorite old sweater, warm from the dryer.

In the distance, a set of headlights came his direction, winding down the dirt path and heading toward him, kicking up a dusty plume in its wake. Another vehicle’s headlights sliced through the cloud, followed by another still. Within a few minutes, they’d all circled the pit and killed their engines, tailgates facing the roaring fire.

Chastity was the first to amble out, quickly jogging toward Barrett. Twisted curls bounced against her shoulders, vibrant hair colors muted in the moon and firelight. He admired the shapely legs jutting out of her white shorts and the jiggle of her bra-less breasts as she bounded closer.

Holding open his arms, Barrett welcomed her in. Without hesitation, she crashed into him, her weight a pleasant pressure against his chest. Catching her without so much as a grunt, Barrett spun her around. Her soft giggle vibrated against his neck. Setting her down, he tilted her chin, lifting her eyes in the direction of his own. Her puffy bags and red nose stirred a fiercely protective feeling in him. Her heart had broken, and he wanted to soothe it, to be a balm on all that ached within her.

He couldn’t fix the past, the words exchanged between Chastity and her parents, and he felt wholly responsible for their divide. He knew, more than anyone, to feel the absence of both parents in an instant.

His eyes bore into hers, thumbs stroking her cheeks. “I’m so sorry that I caused this.”

“What? No,” she said. “We haven’t seen eye to eye in a long time. They never tried to, and now I don’t have to force it anymore. It hurts, but it’s not your fault. It’sthem. Notus.”

Us.

He swallowed hard. He had never really been part of anusbefore.Not like this.

She planted a soft kiss on his lips, then one on the tip of his nose. “I don’t want to think about them anymore tonight. I just want to be here with you.”

He nodded, kissing her forehead. Will and Ava laid a blanket down and sat in the bed of Will’s maroon pickup. They were dressed in almost identical hoodies and sweatpants.

Barrett laughed. “Nice outfits. IsNeiderman’shaving a big two-for-one sale?”

“She doesn’t need to wear anything special to be the sexiest woman alive,” Will said, putting his arm around his fiancee.

“In my defense,” Ava said, “Will didn’t didn’t say anything about anyone else being here. I was supposed to be preppingsave the datestonight.”

“So glad you couldfind the time, then,” Barrett joked.

“Thankfully, she’s a take-charge kinda woman. Otherwise, I’d have just eloped with her and had a small wedding on a beach somewhere.”

“Is that still an option?” she joked, trying to tame her frizzed auburn hair.

“So glad I found the place on the first try. I was worried I was going to get lost out here and eaten by wolves or something.” Sherri Nussbaum, the oldest in the group by a decade, adjusted her black V-neck sweater and high-rise denim pants. Chastity bolted away to greet her with a hug.

“Sherri, so glad you could make it. Let me introduce you to everyone.” She pointed around at the group accordingly. “Will and Ava, Barrett, of course. This is my friend Rachel…”

Rachel waved politely and approached the fire. Barrett smiled, remembering her as Chastity’s ride from the police station. Her cherry-wood-colored hair looked black in the moonlight, tied up in a ponytail, tube top barely covering her large breasts, exposing her flat belly. A few weeks ago, Barrett would have looked at her shorts and impractical wedge sandals and tried to get her out of both as fast as possible. But meeting Chastity felt like it changed everything.

Another vehicle pulled down the road and approached the campfire, doing a clumsy nine-point turn to get her car’s trunk to face the fire, too.

She stepped out and waved timidly. “I made it!”

Will chuckled and tilted his head. “Well! Who do we have here?”

“I’m Maya.Aguilar.”

“Oh!” There was recognition in Will’s eyes.

Ava perked up. “Oh my God, a client! Have you come to complain about Barrett’s service? He’s still a little rough around the edges, but we have faith that he will improve.”

Maya laughed. “Zero complaints. Mr. Andrews here just basically forced me to come out for a night to clear my head.”

Barrett waved her closer for a hug. She wobbled to him in her tennis shoes, firelight flickering against her patterned sundress. He squeezed her tight and invited her to join them on the back edge of his Jeep.

Chastity elbowed Barrett, and he shot back up to his feet. “My apologies. For those of you who maybe don’t really know her yet, this is my girlfriend, Chastity.”

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